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After years of tabloid gossip claiming marital troubles, country music's top couple Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert announced their divorce after four years of marriage.

The news was confirmed in a statement by the couple to The Associated Press, issued by their representatives Monday.

"This is not the future we envisioned," the former couple said in the statement.

"And it is with heavy hearts that we move forward separately. We are real people, with real lives, with real families, friends and colleagues. Therefore, we kindly ask for privacy and compassion concerning this very personal matter."

The two multiplatinum stars came together just as their careers were hitting their peak, but the couple had to constantly deny rumors that their superstar careers were taking a toll on their marriage. Although sometimes they joked about competing against each other for awards, publicly they were constantly championing each other's successes and there were no obvious signs of trouble when the couple appeared at the Academy of Country Music Awards together in April.

Grammy-winning native Texan Lambert, 31, is one of country's music most lauded female singers with her fiery brand of sass and sincerity on songs like "Gunpowder & Lead" and "The House That Built Me."

"Boys 'Round Here" singer Shelton, with his cheeky humor and easy likability, became a ubiquitous star as he juggled his musical and television career, as a judge on NBC's "The Voice" and a co-host of the ACMs. The 39-year-old Shelton first marriage of three years ended in divorce.

"We're a really normal couple," Lambert told The Associated Press in 2010. "We like to back road and hunt and fish. When we're home, we're not in that mode. We're not in work mode, but it's so great to have success together. Our careers have both taken a really good step in a good direction at the same time. I just think we have a really good relationship. It's really strong. We're best friends, and I can't see myself with anybody else."

But tabloids hounded the couple, in particularly focusing on their personal lives and Lambert's weight.

"There are people who literally, their only job is to make other people miserable, and that's a terrible way to live your life," Lambert told The Associated Press in 2014.